Professionals helping people recover and thrive

Life is a process of ups and downs and during these down phases everything seems too much to cope with. Our professional therapists are highly skilled and experienced in assisting and supporting you during these difficult, and often challenging times.

Anxiety can be experienced as a very tense and uneasy state of mind. Although it can be an extremely uncomfortable experience, anxiety does have a purpose. Anxiety informs us we are feeling unsafe, and/or concerned about some possible/perceived threat, misfortune or danger; whether it is a likely, unlikely or a imagined possibility. Anxiety is a negative mood state characterized by physical symptoms and tension. Some of the symptoms of anxiety are as follows:

   Muscle/body tension

  Irritability

  Sleeping difficulties

  Easily fatigued

  Fear

  Emotional distress

  Self defeating thoughts and behaviors

  Feeling out of control

  Experiencing difficulty coping effectively

The categories of Anxiety Disorders includes the following:

  Panic Disorder

  Agoraphobia

  Phobias

  Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

  Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

  Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Anxiety is often part of the fear family, and can include worry as a coping mechanism. As individuals we experience so many issues simply because we don’t understand the cause of our anxiety. Worry is often a sign we are living in the past or in the future, instead of in the present. As a strategy or coping mechanism; often an unconscious one, worry is employed to avoid taking responsibility for the present moment. When choosing to live in the present moment, the worry load can be dramatically lessened, as we tend to have the necessary resources to cope with in the present moment of life. Strategies and goals in counselling could include the following:

  Identify the source of anxiety and fears

  Improve coping skills, self care skills, problem solving skills

  Creating a sense of positive management rather than control

  Cognitive restructuring/shifting

  Psycho-education

  Releasing anxiety still present from a previous incident/experience

Counselling is about creating more safety internally, so even in the presence of real or perceived danger, the individual can feel safe and relaxed, knowing when and how to respond, and preserve emotional and physical well-being.